Jharkhand
Jharkhand is a landlocked state in eastern India. The state shares borders with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It is the 15th largest state by area, and the 14th largest by population. Hindi is the official language of the state. The city of Ranchi is its capital, and Dumka its sub-capital. The state is known for its waterfalls, hills and holy places; Baidyanath Dham, Parasnath, Dewri and Rajrappa are major religious sites. As per 2011 census, Jharkhand is primarily rural, with about 24% of its population living in cities.
Jharkhand suffers from what is sometimes termed a resource curse: it accounts for more than 40% of India's mineral production but 39.1% of its population is below the poverty line and 19.6% of children under five years of age are malnourished.
Etymology
The word "Jhar means 'forest' and "Khand means 'land' in various Indo-Aryan languages. Thus, "Jharkhand" means 'the land of forests'.In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the region was referred as Kark Khand due to its location near Kark Rekha, that is, Tropic of Cancer. It was also known as Ark Khand. During the Medieval period, the region was known as Jharkhand. According to Bhavishya Purana, Jharkhand was one of the seven Pundra desa. The name is first found on a 13th-century copper plate in Kendrapada, Odisha, from the reign of Narasimha Deva II of Eastern Ganga dynasty. Forest land from Baidhnath dham to Puri was known as Jharkhand. In Akbarnama, from Panchet in the east to Ratanpur to west, Rohtasgarh to the north and the frontier of Odisha to the south was known as Jharkhand.
History
Ancient period
The region has been inhabited since the Mesolithic-Chalcolithic period, as shown by several ancient cave paintings.Stone tools have been discovered from Chota Nagpur Plateau region which are from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. There are ancient cave paintings in Isko, Hazaribagh district which are from Meso-chalcolithic period. During 2nd millennium BCE the use of Copper tools spread in Chota Nagpur Plateau and these find complexes are known as the Copper Hoard Culture. In the Kabra-Kala mound at the confluence of the Son and North Koel rivers in Palamu district various antiquities and art objects have been found which are from the Neolithic to the medieval period and pot-sherds of Redware, black and red ware, black ware, black slipped ware and NBP ware are from Chalcolithic to the late medieval period. Several iron slags, microliths, and potsherds have been discovered from Singhbhum district that are from 1400 BCE according to carbon dating age. The region was ruled by many empires and dynasties including Nanda, Maurya and Gupta during ancient period.
In the Mahabharata, the region was referred as Kark Khand due to its location near Tropic of Cancer. During the age of Mahajanpadas around 500 BCE, Jharkhand state was a part of Magadha and Anga. In the Mauryan period, this region was ruled by a number of states, which were collectively known as the Atavika states. These states were subdued and were forced to accept the hegemony of the Maurya Empire during Ashoka's reign. In the ancient site of Saridkel, burnt brick houses, red ware pottery, copper tools, coins and iron tools have been found which belong to the early centuries CE. Brahmi inscriptions have been found in Khunti district which are from the 3rd century BCE. Samudragupta, while marching through the present-day Chotanagpur region, directed the first attack against the kingdom of Dakshina Kosala in the Mahanadi valley.
Medieval period
In the 7th century, the Chinese traveller Xuanzang passed through the region. He described the kingdom as Karnasuvarna, with Shashanka as its ruler. To the north of Karn-Suberna was Magadha, Champa was in the east, Mahendra in the west, and Orissa in the south.During the medieval period, the region was governed by Nagvanshi, Pala, Khayaravala, Ramgarh Raj and Chero rulers. A Buddhist monastery has been found in Hazaribagh which was built during the Pala period in the 10th century. Bhim Karn was a Nagvanshi king during medieval period. He defeated the Raksel dynasty of Surguja when they invaded the region with cavalry.
Modern period
influence reached Palamu during the reign of Emperor Akbar when it was conquered by Rajput Raja Mansingh in 1574. Several invasions took place during Mughal rule. During the reign of the Nagvanshi King Madhu Singh, Akbar's general invaded Khukhra. Also there was an invasion during the reign of Durjan Shah.King Ram Shah ruled Navratangarh from 1640 to 1663. He built the Kapilnath Temple in 1643. He was succeeded by his son Raghunath Shah. Thakur Ani Nath Shahdeo built the Jagannath temple of Ranchi in 1691. The King Medini Ray ruled from 1658 to 1674 in Palamu. His rule extended to areas in South Gaya and Hazaribagh. He attacked Navratangarh and defeated the Nagvanshi Maharaja of Chhotanagpur. Chero rule in the Palamu region lasted until the 19th century until internal conflict between various factions weakened the Cheros and they were defeated by the East India Company. Later Palamu estates were sold by the British.
During the 18th century, regions under the Chero dynasty, Nagvanshi dynasty, Ramgarh and Kharagdiha became territories of the East India Company. Ramgarh Raj along with estates of other chiefs in the regions were permanently settled as Zamindari estates. The Kharagdiha Rajas were settled as Rajas of Raj Dhanwar in 1809, and the Kharagdiha gadis were separately settled as zamindari estates. Some of the notable Kharagdiha Zamindari estates were Koderma, Gadi Palganj and Ledo Gadi. The princely states in the Chota Nagpur Plateau came within the sphere of influence of the Maratha Empire, but they became tributary states of East India Company as a result of the Anglo-Maratha Wars and became known as Chota Nagpur Tributary States.
Subjugation, colonisation and imposition of taxes by the British East India Company resulted in spontaneous resistance from the local people. Chuar Rebellion, the first revolt against the British East India Company was led by Jagannath Singh Patar in 1767 with the Bhumij tribals. The Bhumijes again revolted in 1769–71, led by their Sardar Ghatwals in Dhalbhum. In 1769, Raghunath Mahato also revolted against the East India Company.
In 1771, a revolt against the landlords and the British government was led by Tilka Majhi, a Paharia leader in Rajmahal Hills. Soon after in 1779, the Bhumij tribes again rose in arms against the British rule in Manbhum, called the Chuar Rebellion. In 1807, the Oraons in Barway murdered their landlord from Srinagar. The Munda tribe rose in revolt in 1811 and 1813. Bakhtar Say and Mundal Singh, two landowners, fought against the British East India Company in 1812.
The Hos in Singhbhum revolted in 1820 and a Kol revolt occurred in 1832. Also in 1832 the Bhumijs revolted again against the British, this time under the leadership of Ganga Narayan Singh, known as the Bhumij rebellion. During the 19th century, large numbers of santals from Manbhum, Hazaribagh, Midnapore were settled by British in Damin-i-koh to cultivate the land and generate revenue. But the Santal revolted against the tax imposition. The Santhal rebellion broke out in 1855 under the leadership of two brothers Sidhu and Kanhu. Later the British renamed it Santal Pargana.
File:Attack by 600 Santhals upon a party of 50 sepoys, 40th regiment native infantry.jpg|thumb|left|Santhal rebellion against tax imposition during British Company Raj in 1855
Thakur Vishwanath Shahdeo and Pandey Ganpat Rai rebelled against the British East India Company in the 1857 rebellion. In the Battle of Chatra, conflict took place between the rebels and the East India company. Tikait Umrao Singh, Sheikh Bhikhari, Nadir Ali and Jai Mangal Singh played pivotal role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The brothers Nilambar and Pitambar were chiefs of Bhogta clan of the Kharwar tribe who held ancestral jagirs with many Chero Jagirdars and led revolt against the British East India company.
After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the rule of the British East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria, who, in 1876, was proclaimed Empress of India. The Cheros and Kharwars again rebelled against the British in 1882 but the attack was repulsed. Then Birsa Munda revolt, broke out in 1895 and lasted until 1900. The revolt though mainly concentrated in the Munda belt of Khunti, Tamar, Sarwada and Bandgaon.
In October 1905, the exercise of British influence over the predominantly Hindi-speaking states of Chang Bhakar, Jashpur, Koriya, Surguja, and Udaipur was transferred from the Bengal government to that of the Central Provinces, while the two Oriya-speaking states of Gangpur and Bonai were attached to the Orissa Tributary States, leaving only Kharsawan and Saraikela answerable to the Bengal governor.
In 1936, all nine states were transferred to the Eastern States Agency, the officials of which came under the direct authority of the Governor-General of India, rather than under that of any provinces.
In March 1940, the Indian National Congress 53rd Session occurred under the presidency of Maulana Azad at Jhanda Chowk, Ramgarh, which is now Ramgarh Cantonment. Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Sarojini Naidu, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Acharya J.B. Kripalani, Industrialist Jamnalal Bajaj and other great leaders of the Indian freedom movement attended the Ramgarh Session. Mahatma Gandhi also opened the Khadi and Village Industries Exhibition at Ramgarh.
At that time, under the leadership of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose a conference against Samjhauta was also completed. In Ramgarh, Subhas Chandra Bose was seen as president of the All India Forward Block and M. N. Roy was seen as leader of the Radical democratic party.